


Justify

by HomuraBakura



Series: Arc V Angst Week 2018 [5]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Duel King!Rin, F/M, Fallen Hero, Good Intentions Gone Bad, Manipulation, Murder, Politics, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Threats of Violence, no actual noncon but there's the threat of it so tagged to be safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-10 23:46:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15960131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomuraBakura/pseuds/HomuraBakura
Summary: Rin can hardly believe it when she wins the Friendship Cup and becomes the newest Duel King of the City.  She's determined to become the hero that the Commons -- and Yugo -- need.  The Tops have other plans for her.





	Justify

**Author's Note:**

> For Arc V Angst Week, prompt five: Society

“And — and that’s the game!!  In an absolutely astonishing turn of events, the challenger has — Challenger Rin has defeated the undefeated Jack Atlas!  City, you have a new Duel King — I’m sorry, Duel Queen!!”

There was only a moment’s stunned silence as Rin skidded to a stop, her heart pounding in her chest.  The D-Wheel still vibrated underneath her, rattling her whole body. She couldn’t hear for the rush in her head.  The last attack still thrummed through her, made her fingers tingle. Was she breathing? She couldn’t tell.

She yanked the helmet from her head, cool air freezing her sweat matted face.  She looked up at the crowd, the thousands of people staring at her. The screens that showed her own face.  Her heart skipped a beat.

“Actually,” she said, coughing through the hoarseness in her throat, her voice echoing in across the stadium from her microphone.  “‘Duel King’ suits me just fine.”

A single wild cheer shot up from the crowd.  Another joined it. And then, like a roaring tide of rain suddenly sweeping over the stadium, the entire stadium waved with cheers.  They washed over Rin. She was choking on them.

 _I won_ , she thought, feeling far away.   _I — won._

And then she remembered.

_Yugo._

* * *

“Welcome, Duel Queen, welcome!”

“Duel King,” Rin corrected.  “The title doesn’t have to change just because the gender did.”

She didn’t like the way Jean Michel Roger smiled, but she let it pass.  She didn’t need to piss him off at the moment — right now, she needed to figure out just how much power she actually had.

“Of course, of course,” Roger said with a light laugh.  “I must say, Miss Rin, I’m thoroughly impressed! The way you came from behind with such conviction!  It was truly inspiring.”

“Thank you,” Rin said, still wooden.  “So what happens now?”

“Right to the point, are we?” Roger said with another laugh.  The sound grated on her. She felt sick to her stomach. It was only just now, standing in this small antechamber off the stadium, that it was really hitting her what all of this mean.

 _Duel King_.  She’d defeated Jack Atlas.  She’d completed her and Yugo’s greatest dream.  She was the pinnacle of dueling — of the city. She’d watched Jack and admired him for the three years he’d been king.  She’d watched him win. And she’d watched him become a king that everyone loved — or hated. Watched that passion and fire in him seem to slowly burn out, until he was little more than an imposing statue looking down over the proceedings of the city.

Yugo had always loved Jack.  He’d never for a moment seen the fade that Rin had.  But Rin had realized — that the title of Duel King came with sacrifice.  She’d listened to the Commons folk in bars talk in angry whispers about what little difference having a Commons king had done for their situation.  She’d watched as Jack slowly withdrew from all public circuits, all committees, all forms of a chance to change the world for the Commons, remaining only within the Dueling Circuit and the Friendship Cup.

She’d seen the faint exhaustion in his eyes when he’d been led off the field after she’d beaten him.

Tops had beaten him down.  Reduced him to mere entertainment.

She would have to be careful not to become the same.

“But yes, of course,” Roger said, clapping his hands.  “You are our new King, after all, and you’ll want to be introduced to your next tasks as soon as possible!  We will, of course, be having a celebration to welcome you this evening.”

“That’s great and all,” Rin said.  “But what about council meetings? Briefings?  Training for what my duties are?”

She could tell by the look in Roger’s eyes, a faint flash of distaste, that he had already plugged her as a troublemaker.  It was probably a stupid move — the safer bet was to look dumb and sweet, of course, as they expected girls to be, to play along with the parties and the TV shows and the glamour, until she’d lulled them into a false sense of security.

But she wasn’t capable of being that way.  She had to take things headfirst. And she wanted Jean-Michel Roger to know that neither her age nor her gender made her easily cowed.

“You’re so eager,” Roger said with a smile.  “Don’t worry, that all will come. Take a bit to enjoy yourself before you get into the nitty-gritty — you’ve won a remarkable duel, after all!”

Rin forced a bland smile as he clapped her on the shoulder.

“Thank you,” she said.

“I’ll have someone escort you to prepare for tonight,” Roger said.  “In the meantime, feel free to have a look at the news; I’m sure you’ll be pleased to see your hometown’s reaction to your victory.”

Rin nodded.  Before Roger could leave, however, she felt something in her break.  She’d promised herself that she would bide her time, as much as it hurt, for fear of causing more harm.  But as Roger’s back turned to her, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Roger-san,” she said, and Roger hesitated, looking back over his shoulder.  Rin almost choked. But she couldn’t stop now. “The other Friendship competitors.”

He blinked at her.

“They’ll be in the facility by now.  You know those are the rules,” he said.

“I know,” Rin said.  She forced herself to stand tall, to not break his gaze, to not let her voice shake.  “But I want one of them back.”

Roger’s eyes half narrowed.  She couldn’t see his whole expression from this angle, but she felt a shiver pass through her.  She refused to acknowledge it, or let it show on her face.

Then Roger smiled, and it was even worse than the one before.

“I suppose that could be arranged,” he said.  “Tell me the name. I’ll have someone send for them.”

 _Too easy_ , Rin thought.   _Much too easy.  This is a trap._

But it didn’t stop her from speaking.

“Yugo.  His name is Yugo.”

* * *

“Rin!!  You won!  You won!! I knew you’d win!!”

She let Yugo throw his arms around her, nearly knocking her over.  He was warm and soft and for a moment, Rin almost let herself cry with relief.  But Security was watching, and she would not let them see her weaken. So she simply hugged him back briefly, before pulling away and holding him at arm’s length, searching for injuries.

“Did they hurt you?” she asked.

Yugo had only been down there for two days.  He’d lost late in the tournament, and there had been an unexpected break for road repair the day before Rin’s match with Jack.  Still, he looked a little hollow in the cheeks, and his skin had an ashen tone. It made her want to break things.

He waved his hands reassuringly.

“No way!  I’m tougher than that!” Yugo said with his big dopey grin.  “And — oh. Wow.”

His eyes bulged a little, as he suddenly seemed to notice what Rin was wearing.  She hated it — she hadn’t been given many options for what to wear to this stupid party, and all of them were stupid.  She’d ended up in a long, sparkly mint green dress, with a low cut top and a golden belt made of three loops of chain. She’d been forced through an awful hair and makeup session as well.  One of her attendants was glaring at Yugo, presumably for his dirty clothes and hair and how he’d just hugged Rin when she was all done up.

“You look really good, Rin!” Yugo said.  “So this is what the Duel King looks like up close!”

She blushed, partially from his compliment, and partially from the fact that he’d called her the Duel King without her needing to correct him.  Yugo was the only one who understood her.

“You’re going to need a clean up too,” Rin said, tugging at his lank, dirty hair.  Clearly, the facility had not been very kind to him.

“Little dirt never hurt anyone,” Yugo said, laughing.

One of the attendants cleared their throat, and Rin’s eyes darted to clock. Fuck.  She was out of her allotted time.

“I’m sorry, I need to go to some stupid welcome party,” she said.  “If you go with them, they’ll take you to where we’re staying now. Get some food, a bath, and some sleep — don’t wait up for me.”

“Yes mom,” Yugo said.

She smacked him on arm and he pretend flinched, laughing.

He was still looking over his shoulder and making funny faces at her as the attendants led him off.  Rin felt a sudden panic grip her as he walked away from her — the last time she’d seen him walk away...he was going down into the facility.  The thought brought bile to her throat and made her want to puke all over her stupid dress.

“King, it’s time for you to arrive,” the attendant beside her said, checking her watch.

She forced the bile away.  She wiped the panic from her eyes.  Yugo would be fine. She was the King now.  She’d make sure he’d always be okay.

She turned, and followed the attendant towards the ballroom.  It was time to make an entrance.

* * *

Rin had two options for this party: play the coy princess, or assert her fucking dominance as the goddamn Duel King.

Rin was not a princess.  There really wasn’t a choice.

People clapped as she descended the stairs, trying not to fall down in her heels and maintain a straight poise and stoic look as she walked down to the ballroom.  She made a brief bow to the crowd, but luckily, it didn’t seem she was expected to make any big speech. Several groups clustered towards her one at a time. She was caught in a flurry of handshakes and bland pleasantries, which she delivered with a firm hand and direct eye contact.  She saw at least a few people flinch back from this, and smiled internally. They would quickly find out that she wasn’t just a dumb figurehead.

“Esteemed King, we are so happy to have you join us.”

She smiled at the man with the braided eyebrows, who smiled blandly back at her.  His grip was limp when she shook his hand. She knew him, of course. The head councilman, Taki.  He’d been on the council for nearly fifteen years, as no one ever ran against him. He’d never been a great leader, but the years had turned him even more lax and lazy, passing off more and more power to the Public Security Bureau, ignoring petitions, and practically handwaving away any motions to address wage disparity.

If Roger was Public Commons Enemy Number 1, then he was Number 2 on her list.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” she said.

“Oh, no need for such formality.  Please call me Taki.”

He had a grandfatherly sort of smile, and if he had been anyone else, Rin would have felt drawn to that smile.  But she reminded herself of the atrocities in the Commons. The children she’d seen starving to death. The overcrowded orphanages and shelters.  The police beatings that were doled out without warning or reason. The sounds of breaking bottles and drunken shrieks that kept her awake at night, staring at her door to make sure no one tried to break through the pitiful lock and steal everything they had — or worse.

“I look forward to seeing more of you then, Taki,” she said.  When he quirked an eyebrow at her in vague confusion, she elaborated.  “On the council. I will, of course, be taking up on the traditional sixth seat for the King.”

His smile didn’t change, but she felt the atmosphere alter.

“We’ll be lucky to have you, I think,” he said jovially.  “But let’s not talk of such things tonight. This is a party for you, isn’t it?  Enjoy yourself!”

“Thank you.  I will.”

She moved on to more greetings, more inane pleasantries.  More internal lists of every person she met who smiled at her, whose crimes she remembered like a brand on her heart.  

The ballroom shone with opulence, the tables were overflowing with food that even this crowd would not be able to eat, and expensive materials in tablecloths and serving bowls and wine glasses.  Below the lights of the glowing dance hall, an entire population starved.

Rin continued smiling until her lips hurt.

This whole damn system was changing, starting today.

* * *

“And thus why I believe we should be instituting further patrols in Commons areas,” Roger concluded, putting his papers back down on the podium

Taki let out a low hum, and Rin could see nods coming from some of the other Council members.  Her stomach twisted to remember those patrols. The panic that had gripped her as she and Yugo had hidden behind a dumpster, listening to the cries of those who weren’t fast enough to get out of the way, the thunk of a baton striking a bystander, someone shouting at the police to tell them to leave them alone, that they weren’t doing anything.  The sudden searches that would bust open the houses next to the orphanage, and the screaming people dragged out of their homes for having drugs that had not been there before the police had arrived.

She tapped the bell in front of her to let them know she wanted to talk.  Everyone looked to her, and Taki acknowledged her with a nod.

“I think it’s a bad idea,” she said.  “More patrols means more tensions with the Commons.  You’ll only create more riots. The harder you push down on the cap of a shaken soda bottle, the more fiercely it will explode.”

There were a few exchanges of glances, and the one woman on the council aside from Rin pressed her lips together, nodding slowly.

Roger tapped his own bell, and Taki acknowledged him.

“If I may ask then, King,” he said, with a smile.  “What do you propose instead?”

Rin waited impatiently for Taki to acknowledge her, and then burst into her spiel.

“The problem in the Commons isn’t violence or drugs, it’s poverty,” she said.  “If you address the root cause, there won’t be a need for as much policing. We could be investing some of the money we put into Security into infrastructure and schools and food banks.”

“Do you really think that’s an equivalent amount of spending to the pittance we’re allotted for Security?” Roger said.  “Food and schools are not cheap, King.”

“I’ve read the budgets, I know it’s more than reasonable,” Rin said, forcing herself to stay calm.  “But it will be much more cost-effective in the long-run, and you’ll have a happier populace too.”

“And what after that?” Roger said, shaking his head.  “No, King, I understand your sympathies, but to pour so many resources into the Commons is counterintuitive.  If you give them an inch, they will take a mile.”

Heads nodded around the council, and Rin’s heart spiked with irritation.  How stupid could they be??

“The people of the Commons are hungry and cold and afraid!” she said. “They don’t need more fear!  They need food and shelter!”

“If they wanted that, King, they would work for it,” Roger said.  “As you yourself have worked yourself up to where you are now.”

Rin almost stood up, feeling rage spike in her chest.  But Taki rang his bell for order.

“I do believe your heart is in the right place, King,” Taki said, with a bland, fatherly sort of smile.  “But you must understand that we have been at this game for a very long time. I do believe we know what’s best.”

“That’s just it!  You don’t!” Rin couldn’t help but snap.  “You haven’t lived in the Commons! You don’t understand what they’re going through! That’s why you need to listen!”

At least two members of the Council were looking uncomfortable now, but Taki cut her off before she could continue.

“Please follow procedure when in Council, King,” he said with a pleasant tone.  “If not for the rules, we would have anarchy. You will be acknowledged when you’d like to speak.”

Rin sat back down, simmering with anger.  She forced herself to breathe. It was frustrating now, but she could see that she’d stirred at least one or two people.  If she kept at it, she’d stir more, and she’d gain more support.

Patience, she reminded herself with irritation.  Politics was the game of frustrating patience.

* * *

Rin flopped face first on the bed, groaning.  Yugo flopped down next to her on his back.

“Long day?” he said.

“You have no idea,” she grumbled.  “Everyone here is an idiot! They won’t listen to me at all.”

Yugo rolled over, flopping an arm over Rin’s back.  She shifted over, so that they were lying face to face. Yugo grinned at her.

“Hang in there, Rin!” he said, hugging her lightly.  “You’re really smart, and really tough! They’ll definitely have to listen to you!”

Rin grimaced, but it turned to a smile quick enough.  She couldn’t stay upset for long in the face of that blinding smile.

“You’re too optimistic,” she said.  “This could take years before I get anywhere with these people.  And I could lose the Friendship Cup in the meantime.”

“You?? No way!!  You beat _Jack Atlas_!”

Yugo sounded awed, his voice echoing with an almost childish excitement.  She couldn’t help but smile. His eyes shone with such joy and excitement, such unabated optimism.  She curled up closer to him, tucking her head beneath his chin, stifling a giggle at the way he flustered for a moment at the closeness before resting his hands around her.

“Thank you,” she said.  “When you’re around, I feel like I can do anything, Yugo.”

Yugo squeezed her.

“I’ll always be here,” he said.  “No matter what.”

* * *

Rin flinched at the sound of the knock on the door.  She hurriedly stuffed the files of legal documents she’d pilfered from the courthouse under her pillow, and ran to the door.  She felt wholly rumpled, but she didn’t have time to fix her hair.

Her heart darkened when she saw a smiling Roger standing in the doorway.  She forced a bland smile.

“Oh, Director Roger,” she said.  “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I hope I haven’t interrupted your rest,” he said.

“I was awake,” she said.  “What can I do for you?”

His smile was venomous.  She felt sick. She couldn’t handle him right now.  Couldn’t handle the way he looked like he was getting ready to murder her.

“May I come in for a moment?” he asked.  “Of course, if you’re not prepared...”

“No, of course, come in,” she said, holding the door open.  She wanted to say no. Tell him off. But that would be a sign of weakness, and he’d exploit it.  She had to...struggle to keep the upper hand. God, she wasn’t ready for this. She didn’t know what she was doing.  Why had she thought she could do this??

His smile remained as he walked inside.  She closed the door, and nodded towards her table.  She felt suddenly glad that Yugo was away, in the garage with his bike, despite wanting him to always been in view.

Roger took a seat at the table, and Rin made a show of being a respectable host.  She poured some tea from her already boiling pot, and set one in front of Roger. He didn’t move to take it, but it was still steeping anyway.  She put one in front of her chair, and then sat down across from him. She cupped the mug in her hands, willing the warmth to burn away the ice that was creeping down her spine.

“So,” she said, before the silence could draw on for too long.  “What do I owe the pleasure?”

Roger played with the tab of the tea bag, pulling the bag up and down in the water.

“I can’t help but notice how interested you are in the city’s workings, King,” he said.  “You’ve taken such an involved role. It’s rather admirable, especially at your age.”

Rin felt a chill pass over her.  Roger was still smiling amiably, his eyes on his mug of tea, but she felt the poison dripping from every word.

“I grew up in a shithole,” she said.  “I’d like to make it a little less of a shithole for everyone else.”

“Very admirable,” Roger repeated, humming to himself.

Rin waited, feeling the minutes tick down.  She was starting to panic. She was suddenly realizing that she was alone in this room with a much larger, much stronger man, a man who controlled the city’s security cameras, who controlled the _city_.  She might be the Duel King, but anything could happen in here and no one would ever know.

His eyes lifted to hers, dark, cruel eyes with a much darker smile, and she had a sense that he knew exactly the panic that was flashing through her mind.

“I had this problem with the last King too, you know,” he said.  “He wanted to change this city, too.”

“And that’s a problem?” Rin said, trying to sound calm.

“Changing the city is a very tall order, you know.  And it won’t necessarily make everyone happy.”

“Maybe not everyone needs to be happy with it.  Making lives better isn’t wrong.”

“You’re very noble, Rin.”

Outside, in the dark city below them, a spinning flash of police lights glittered.  Rin didn’t let her eyes drop Roger’s. She couldn’t be cowed. She must _not_ let him intimidate her.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to put my foot down,” Roger said, twirling the string of the tea bag around his finger.  “You’ll need to withdraw yourself from the Council. You’re making too big of a scene.”

“And what will you do if I say no?” Rin said.  Her heart screamed in her chest. She stared at Roger, but in reality, she couldn’t see much for the panic eating at her vision.

Roger’s smile tugged at the corners of his lips again.

“You know,” he said.  “Yugo is a very enthusiastic boy.”

Rin felt her heart drop into her stomach.  All of her resolve melted. A tremble leaped to her hands.

“You will leave him alone,” she said, words ripping out of her throat.

“Oh, I wasn’t threatening him,” Roger said with a laugh.  “I just thought that it would be a shame if something had to happen that would...mar that enthusiasm.  A shame to ruin such a lovely smile.”

She hated the way the words twisted in his mouth.  The venom that dripped from every word. The awful, disgusting near lust that tainted his suddenly _evil_ grin.  She felt her air sucked away from her.

“You will leave him alone,” she said again, but her throat was tight and the words were thin.

It had been too easy for him to agree to bring Yugo out of the facility.  Too easy. She’d known this whole time why he’d done it. That it was only a matter of time before this happened.  It had hung over her like a leaden weight. Just waiting for when it would happen, when Roger would pull this card.

“Of course I will,” Roger said.  “Just like you’ll withdraw from the Council tomorrow.”

“If you kill him, you’ll have nothing over me anymore.  I’ll destroy you,” Rin said, voice shaking.

She felt the bile rising up in her throat as Roger briefly pulled a tiny vial out of his breast pocket, a vial with two small tablets inside.  She knew what those were. She’d seen them used before — seen people drop them into drinks in bars and then lead their hapless drinkers into a private corner.  She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs had turned to iron bars, squeezing her heart. He tapped the vial almost lazily to his lips.

“There are much worse things you can do to a person than kill them,” he said.

Rin’s hands shook.  She felt tears bubbling in her eyes.  Her persona was ruined. He had won. He had won everything.  She’d broken. And the worst part was the dark, almost hungry look in his eyes as he realized it.

Rin closed her eyes.

“I’ll withdraw from the council,” she said.

“That’s a good girl,” Roger said.  “Have your intent to withdraw drawn up tonight.  I’ll deliver it tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.”

He smiled as he stood up, replacing the vial in his pocket.  But Rin could barely look at him.

“It’s been a pleasure speaking with you, King,” he said.

The door burst open, slamming against the other wall from the fury of the entry.

“Whew!  Rin!! You should see some of the bikes they have down there!  They’re really —”

Yugo stopped in his tracks.  He stared at Roger, and then at Rin.  Rin couldn’t look at him without her eyes filling with tears, so she let her head fall against her hands.

“Hey,” Yugo said, his voice rough and hard.  Precious, sweet Yugo, trying to protect her. “What’s going on?”

“We were simply having a chat,” Roger said.  “I’ll leave the two of you to it, then.”

He swept past Yugo, and Rin could almost imagine the way Yugo glared at his back.  She didn’t look up until the door closed, and then she could only look at the chair that Roger had left behind, and the tea still there, untouched.

“Ugh.  What a prick,” Yugo said.  “Hey, Rin? Are you okay?”

Yugo’s hand was so soft on her shoulder.  She couldn’t take it anymore. She turned in her chair and threw herself at him, hugging him as tightly as she could manage.  Her tears stained his shoulder, and he silently wrapped his arms around her. He had no idea. He had absolutely no idea why she was crying, and she couldn’t tell him.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled incoherently into his chest.  “I’m so sorry, Yugo, I’m so sorry! I’m sorry I let us get here, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

Yugo didn’t say anything.  He just hugged her, one hand in her hair, warm and soft and safe.  Beautiful, precious, sweet, pure Yugo, who’d come to the Friendship Cup simply out of a pure love for dueling and a desire to achieve the highs of a good, pure duel between great duelists, who she’d dragged on her fool’s errand to change the world when she was so young, so stupid, so incapable.  Yugo, whose life and happiness was now in danger because of her.

She should have let herself lose.  At least in the underground plant, they would have been together.  They would have cobbled a life together. They wouldn’t have lived with this hanging over her head for the rest of her life, until she finally gave up, like Jack Atlas had.

“I’m sorry,” she gasped.  “I’m sorry. I never should have brought us here.”

_The world can’t be changed.  It can’t be saved._

_I can’t be saved._

* * *

Rin didn’t watch the news.  She heard Yugo watching it, though, heard him swearing at the rioters on the screen.  They were angry she’d stepped down from the Council. She was the same disappointing traitor as Jack.

She could only lie in her bed, staring up at the ceiling.  She’d have to go to another party, soon. She’d have to laugh and smile and act dumb, while Roger stared at her from a corner, knowingly.  While Yugo tried to glom to her, and while she watched those disgusting politicians crowd around her for their own gain, watch them put their dirty eyes on Yugo, and know that she couldn’t protect him.

Jack Atlas had lasted three years of this.

Rin would be lucky if she lasted three months.

* * *

“You’re doing most excellently, King.”

Rin stared at nothing.  She held a glass of wine but she didn’t drink it.  The party was white noise around her. Yugo was here, eating as though he’d never see food again.  But she couldn’t stand with him. She couldn’t be in his light, knowing how much she’d destroyed. He had such a sense of justice.  If he knew that she’d given up for his sake, he’d hate himself forever. He’d do something stupid, to try and get her to be a hero for the Commons, and not for him.

She couldn’t be a hero for anyone.  She couldn’t even be a hero for the one person she loved.

“No words for me today, King?” Roger said, smiling from where he stood next to her.

“What do you want me to say?” she hissed.

“Ah, ah, ah.  Let’s be genial.”

Rin blinked back angry tears.

“Of course,” she said.  “Genial.”

Roger smiled at his wine glass, swirling it in one hand.

“I’d like for you to record a speech,” he said.  “A message of peace and calm for the Commons. To soothe them.”

Rin felt the bile rise in her stomach again.  A puppet. That’s all she was. Dangling by Roger’s strings, doing as he directed.

“Are you going to say no?” Roger said.  His eyes weren’t on her, but on the party.  On Yugo, who was currently talking to some Tops boy that Rin didn’t know.  “You know, it’s really unfortunate, all the terrible things that can happen to a person when they get drunk.”

She saw the Tops boy lean over towards Yugo, saw him put his hand next to Yugo’s glass on the table beside them.  Yugo didn’t drink alcohol. But Rin could see the way the Tops boy’s eyes flickered towards Roger, as though waiting for some kind of signal.  Rin felt like choking. Everyone here was an enemy. Someone that Roger controlled like a goddamn marionette.

“I’ll do it,” she said.

Roger shook his head at the Tops boy, and the boy leaned away from Yugo’s glass, leaving it untouched.

“Good girl,” Roger said.

* * *

Rin watched Yugo sleep.  He looked so unworried in his sleep.  She smoothed his hair down. She touched her lips to his forehead.  His breath hitched, and he smacked his lips in his sleep.

“Rin,” he whispered, dreamy.

He was fast asleep.  She smoothed his bangs from his eyes.

“I love you,” she whispered, but only when he’d never hear her.

* * *

Roger’s script was like ash on her tongue.  It was only Roger’s smiling face on the other side of the camera that got her to force it out with a calm, assured look, as though it were her own idea. She could almost hear the cries of betrayal in the Commons.  The division sown between those who still believed in her, and those who knew what she really was: a Tops puppet.

She tried to feel something, anything when Roger squeezed her shoulder after the recording was over.

“Splendid job, King,” he said.

She felt only hollow.  Empty. Disgusting.

She walked back down the hallway at a stumble, like a zombie.  She tried to think about how she would explain this to Yugo. Maybe she wouldn’t have to.  He’d never stopped loving Jack, even as he recorded messages like these to quell the Commons.  Maybe he wouldn’t notice.

Maybe she could keep living like this.  As long as he was safe.

She slowed as she passed a group of Tops teens in the corridor.  The air was heavy with smoke, something that made her feel a little light-headed and almost giddy.  It was the most she’d felt in a long time.

“Want to join us, King?” one of them asked when she looked at them, holding up a blunt.

She stared at him for a moment.  He slowly started to look uncomfortable.  She wondered if they could see just how hollow she’d become.

She moved on, leaving them behind.  But the feeling of giddiness from the second hand smoke remained.  Something tickled at her. She wanted to start laughing.

She passed a girl in the uniform of the younger attendants, like the ones who had managed the contestants in the Friendship Cup.  The girl’s eyes widened when she saw Rin, and it seemd for a moment like she would hurry on. There was a mixture of fear and hurt in the girl’s eyes, and Rin remembered that she must be a Common too.

She stopped dead in the corridor.  The girl stopped too, clearly surprised by the abruptness.  They stared at each other for a time. Rin’s eyes flickered back towards the boys she’d left behind in their cloud of smoke.

“Hey,” she said.  “Do you know where I can get what they’ve got?”

The girl looked where Rin pointed, and Rin could almost smell the disappointment in the girl’s face.  As though Rin had confirmed her worst fears about the Duel King’s character.

“I can certainly acquire that for you, King,” the girl said.

The hurt in the girl’s eyes was too much.  Rin felt sick. She thought of seeing those eyes in Yugo’s face, when he saw her recorded message tomorrow on the news.  If he’d be disappointed, disillusioned in her too. Bile and tears rose in her throat, threatening to choke her.

And then, a very dark emotion overtook her.  She could tell the girl noticed, as the girl’s eyes widened and she shrank back imperceptibly.

“Actually,” Rin said, her voice sounding very far away.  “Do you know where I can get something even stronger?”

* * *

Another party.  They were all a blur now.  She stood in the back of the room, trying not to get too much notice, smiling blandly when Tops aristocrats came to get a word from her just so they could brag about it.

Roger joined her momentarily.  He always did.

“Your speech was quite the hit,” he said.  “At least, in the Tops. The Commons are more divided.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Rin.

She didn’t need to look at him to see his awful smile in her mind.  She’d never be able to unsee it.

“I’d like you to tape another one.  Would that be agreeable to you?”

She could tell he was surprised when she turned to look at him, smiling.  She wondered if he could tell how dead her eyes were.

“Of course,” she said.  “I’d be happy to.”

His surprise was palpable, finally wiping that smile off his face.  It returned momentarily.

“I’m so pleased to see you enthusiastic,” he said.  “It seems perhaps we’re making headway with each other.”

Rin kept smiling.

“I suppose I’ve decided it’s best to work more amiably,” she said.

He chuckled.

“It’s a new strategy at least.  You’re at least very amusing, my dear.”

Rin only smiled.  She waved a server over, taking two glasses from it.  She held one to Roger.

“Shouldn’t we celebrate the success of my speech?” she said.

It would have made sense for him to mistrust her.  To find something suspicious in her behavior. But Roger was a proud man.  She banked on it. He thought he held all the cards.

He accepted the glass with a smile.

“We should indeed,” he said.

She took a long sip of the champagne, not looking at Roger while he sipped his.

It didn’t take very long.  He squinted. He blinked his eyes rapidly.  He put a hand to his forehead.

“Something wrong?” Rin asked.

“No,” Roger said.

“Are you sure?  Maybe you should sit down.”

“I...no, there’s nothing...”

He almost dropped his glass.  Rin took it before it could fall and shatter, attracting attention.  She held both glasses in one hand, and then took Roger’s arm. Even still, he looked confused.  He mumbled something, like _don’t know what’s come over me._

“You look tired,” she said.  “You should sit down.”

Even now, he didn’t seem to have enough fear in him to suspect her.  When she took him by the elbow, he stumbled after her. Or maybe the drug was just that strong.

She led him through the heavy curtains behind them into the next room.  It was empty back here in this parlor. The only sound came from the muffled party beyond the curtain, and the opulent fountain that sat beside the couch.  What a stupid, unnecessary decoration.

She had him sit down on the couch.  She put the glasses on the coffee table.  Then she crouched in front of him, at eye level, and she smiled very sweetly at him.

For the first time, she saw sweet, sweet panic in his eyes.

“You never thought I was a threat,” she said.  “That was your first mistake.”

She pushed him down onto the couch on his back.  He couldn’t resist her — he couldn’t even yell. She picked up one of the pillows from the side.

“You thought you were the only one who could be cruel,” she said.  “That was your second mistake.”

She saw the absolute horror in his eyes one last time before she pressed the pillow over his face.

“And you thought that you could get away with threatening Yugo,” she said.  “That was your last mistake.”

The drug was too powerful for him to move, or even flail.  She saw his fingers twitch a few times. Saw his chest spasm.  But she leaned down, hard, pushing the pillow against his face and mouth, leaning her entire weight against his face.  She held him there for what felt like hours.

When his fingers finally stopped twiching, she took the pillow from his face.  His eyes had rolled up into his head. He was very obviously not breathing.

She took both glasses and dumped them over his shirt, staining him with the scent of alcohol.  He was heavy, but she was unhurried. She hauled him off the couch and over to the stupid fountain.  She dumped him face first into the water, slumped over the side with his head fully submerged. Then she shattered one of the champagne glasses on the ground beside his limp hand.  She threw the other one into the trash.

She’d return to the party.  Someone would find him later.  He’d be long dead. Drunk and fallen into a fountain to drown.  What a way to die, they’d say.

“Rin?  Rin, are you okay?  I saw you go in here with Roger and —”

Her heart stopped.  The curtains drew back, and she turned, slowly.

Yugo stood in the light.  His body was illuminated like an angel, his eyes searching through the dark of the parlor.  His eyes found Rin’s, and the relief that spread over his face made Rin want to cry.

He stepped inside, the curtain falling back behind him, mouth open, probably to ask if she was all right.  Before the light faded, however, his eyes moved behind her. He had seen him. His face whitened.

“Is that...?” he said.  “R-Rin? What happened?”

Rin could lie.  It would be easy.  Yugo would never suspect her.  She felt her heart race, her eyes bulge with panic.  What would he think of her? She was a murderer.

Oh.  A murderer.  She hadn’t even acknowledged that.

“Don’t look!” she cried, as Yugo took another step forward.

She crossed the space to him, throwing her arms around him and pressing his face into her shoulder.  She couldn’t stop shaking. Tears blurred her eyes.

“Don’t look, Yugo,” she begged.  “Please don’t look.”

“Rin?” Yugo whispered into her shoulder.  “What’s going on?”

She felt a sob choke her.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said.  “It had to be done, Yugo. He was going to hurt you.  He hurt so many others. It had to be done, and no one else was doing it.  So I did it.”

Yugo was trembling in her arms.  He hated her. Oh god, he must hate her.

And then, his slight, trembling arms wrapped around her waist.  His face buried into her shoulder.

“I killed him, Yugo.  I really did kill him.  I couldn’t let him hurt you.  I had to do this. For you. For Commons.  I had to do it.”

“It’s okay, Rin,” Yugo whispered, and she shut up.  His voice was so small. She couldn’t tell if he was hurt, if he was scared of her, or if he was simply reassuring her.  “Rin...you know I won’t abandon you, right? No matter what.”

Rin choked on a sob.  She held him even tighter, burying herself in his scent, in his soft, pure warmth.  She could still feel the frightened tremble in him. She’d put fear in Yugo.

She felt like she’d broken something that could never be fixed.

She dug her fingers into his back.

“You promise?” she whispered.

He nodded.

“I promise.”

* * *

“What terrible business,” Taki said, shaking his head, looking somber for the first time.  “I’m so sorry you had to be the one to discover the body, King. It must have been quite a shock.”

Rin didn’t respond.

“Once the news breaks out, it will be a riot,” he said, sighing, swirling his glass. “It will be quite the task to calm the Commons.  I hope we’ll have your support in tending to this matter until we can instate a new head of Public Security.”

Rin lifted her eyes from the table to Taki.  She was not surprised to see the way he looked at her — underestimation.  It was the same thing that had gotten Roger killed.

“Roger and the Security Bureau were responsible for a great many injustices in the Commons,” she said carefully.  “Wouldn’t now be a good time to address those? To reassure the Commons that their concerns will be taken into account with the new director?”

Taki smiled, but it was the sort of smile that one gave a cute puppy, or a precocious grandchild asking silly questions.

“Ah, you’re a very kind girl, King,” Taki said.  “But you must leave these matters of business to us.  We’ll do as we always have, and things will work out.”

Rin blinked at him.

Then she smiled back.  She stood up, and walked over to the water cooler, pouring herself a cup.  She poured a second one for Taki.

She kept smiling as she passed it to him, and he smiled when he took it from her.  She didn’t drink her water, only watching him drink his.

“You’re right,” she said, as she saw his eyelids begin to droop, and the confusion at his sudden dizziness tug his lips downward.  “Everything will work out.”


End file.
